


Princess

by edourado



Series: Hell's Kitchen Chronicles [105]
Category: The Punisher (TV 2017)
Genre: Baby Fic, Drabble, F/M, Ficlet, Fluff, kastle - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-01
Updated: 2018-02-01
Packaged: 2019-03-12 08:10:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,251
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13543284
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/edourado/pseuds/edourado
Summary: Their daughter clearly prefers one over the other





	Princess

**Author's Note:**

> I'm not big on baby fics. I'm particularly not big on kastle baby fics. So I don't really know how to explain this.  
> Written in no particular universe. Can be read as an AU or future fic. Readers choice.  
> Much love.

When they found out it was a girl, Karen really did think that it would give her some sort of advantage. Frank’s utter joy should have been a warning, really.

And yes, she’s blaming Frank for this.

It’s not that her daughter doesn’t love her. Her first word was, after all, “mommy”, but when she learned to say “dada”, it’s like a broken record.

She smiles at Karen, all the time. She reaches for her, and hides her face in her neck when she’s shy, or tired, and asks for her when she’s not there. With Frank, though, it’s loud laughter, gleeful screeches, giggles until she is out of breath, painful tears when she calls and he doesn’t show up immediately.

The very definition of “daddy’s little girl”.

“I carried you in my belly for nine months, remember?” she asked one day while the small child sat on her high chair, only accepting to eat if it’s Frank holding the spoon and making airplane noises. She smiled up at her, pumpkin puree all over her face, blue eyes shining under thick black eyelashes. “You kicked me from the inside as if you were choreographing a samba”, Karen went on, and her daughter must have found that really funny, because she giggled, looking back at Frank when he offered her another spoonful of the food she had found unacceptable before he got home. “My feet swelled up and all my clothes stopped fitting me, missy, did you know that? I built you up from scratch.”

Her cheeks resembled that of a squirrel, round and chubby while she munched on the spoonful of puree, as if she needed to chew it thoroughly before swallowing.

“All your father did was the fun part”, she went on.

“It was pretty fun”, Frank said, sitting on the chair in front of their kid.

“So I find it offensive”, she said, reaching out her hand and tickling her belly, smiling when tiny hands gripped her wrist, and the girl giggled again. “When you don’t even try to hide this blatant preference for him.”

She had been fussy before Frank got home, refusing to eat, cranky, looking away every time Karen moved the spoon close to her face.

There were actual tears welled up in her eyes when Frank walked through the door, and Karen sighed when she reached her chubby little arms up, asking to be picked up, all traces of sadness gone while dad pressed a thousand kisses on her face.

“Let me try”, she asked again, taking the spoon from Frank. “Baby. You couldn’t even eat without me not too long ago. Come on, now, mommy worked so hard on this for you.”

No surprise at all when she turned her face away from the spoon, even if Frank was sitting right there in front of her.

He laughed, the jerk, setting the plate down and picking her up.

“I love you, too, princess.”

With a sigh, Karen gave up, getting up from her chair and setting the spoon on the plate for Frank to resume feeding her dinner.

“Ok. I’m gonna take a bath”, she said, walking to them to place a kiss on Frank’s lips and one on the baby’s cheek. “Since clearly I’m not needed here. See you both later.”

“Bye, mommy”, Frank said. “Say ‘bye, mommy’.”

“Bye, mommy”, the girl echoed, little hand waving, and Karen waved back, blowing kisses.

She was soaking in bubbles in the bathroom half light when he knocked. She told him to come in and he opened the door, closing it again after them, placing their daughter on the counter to remove her onesie and diaper.

She shared the bathtub with the baby while Frank showered, and he kissed her slowly when he bent to pick the little girl back up, promising he would join her in her bath next time.

When she was in her PJ’s and her hair was brushed, Karen walked to her bedroom to find him already in bed, kid on the crook of his arm, both watching the TV.

“How was your day?” he asked when she crawled in bed with them, reaching for her.

“Good. Quiet”, she said, settling on his right side, head on his shoulder, hand on his chest, leg over his, his arm around her. “I miss going to work, though.”

“I know”, he said, kissing the top of her head, rubbing her shoulder with his big hand. “It’s good that Ellison is letting you work from home, though.”

“Well. I’m his best reporter. He’d be stupid if he didn’t.”

“Yes, he would.”

“How about you?”

He started to say “nothing new”, but there was a commercial break on that pink pig show, which made the small demanding princess turn her attention back to the room. She realized that mom was there, all curled up against dad.

“Mommy!” she said, loud, sitting up, letting go of her stuffed bunny to crawl over Frank, digging a place between the two grownups and settling there, but not before removing his hand from Karen’s shoulder.

“Oh my God”, Karen said, sitting up, watching as she picked Frank’s hand up and held it against her chest, claiming his undivided attention. “Daddy can’t curl up with mommy?”

“No, mommy.”

“Ok. This crosses a line. He was mine first, I’ll have you know. This is war.”

She picked the girl up and made her laugh with tickles and nibbles on her belly.

It was a bit tricky, to make her accept that Frank could kiss Karen, and she could kiss Frank, too.

“Can mommy give you a kiss?” she asked while the girl sat between Frank’s legs, resting her back on his stomach. And she leaned towards her, small mouth already puckered for the kiss she knew was coming. Karen kissed her, and smiled, a hand on her chin.

“Thank you, honey. Now, can mommy give daddy a kiss?”

“No, mommy!” she said, and Frank was trying his best not to laugh, because they wanted to teach her that she could not just claim a person like this. But she knew his heart soared with how much their daughter loved him.

“No?”

“No!”

It took Frank lifting her and leaning in to kiss Karen along with her. She seemed to accept when they were both kissing her, not just him.

“Daddy loves mommy very much”, Frank said, Karen sitting against him, now, princess in front of them, being held by both. “That’s why I kiss her a lot. That and the great ass she has.”

“Frank!” she scolded, barely containing her laughter.

She didn’t understand half the words they were saying, still too young at almost one year old, but the meaning of the pep talk seemed to be going through. She was adamant against it at first, hesitant when they insisted on it, Frank kissing Karen and vice-versa in spite of her protests, and then reluctantly allowing her parents to touch each other without her in the middle.

“Gotta say”, Karen said when Frank joined her in bed, turning in for the night after the kid fell asleep on her crib. “Never thought I’d have to compete for your attention with another woman. Especially not one this young.”

He smiled, and she could see just how happy he was with the whole thing.

“She’ll understand”, he said, moving to settle on top of her. “Now”, he went on, taking the blanket away from between them, settling between her legs. “It’s daddy time.”


End file.
